"Sponsored: The Jesus Dilemma, Faith and History"

Most people who read scripture every day eventually run into a question they can't settle from the text alone. Who else wrote about Jesus in his own century? Why do the four Gospels tell it differently? Is the story just a retelling of older myths? The Jesus Dilemma: Faith, History, and Mythology by S. M. Carlson takes those questions one at a time over 356 pages. It's written for readers who want the history and the objections laid out in front of them.

The book states its limits early. A special note on page 6 says no religious organization endorses it and that the views in it are the author's own. That includes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which the author belongs to. Readers of this site should take it as one member's study, not a Church publication.

The question it takes on

Carlson was an atheist for most of his life. On page 15 he writes that "Logic, reason, and science were my “holy” trinity." He says he joined the Church about a year before writing the Introduction, and that the more he looked into Jesus, the more the subject needed a book of its own. It grew out of his earlier book, Finding God in the Unexpected.

So the project comes from a man who wanted evidence and kept asking for it. The Introduction says the book "does not claim to have all the answers" (page 16), and it describes itself as an invitation to believers, skeptics and the curious. The word "dilemma" in the title is never defined in the book, so don't go in expecting a one-line thesis. The tension it works with is faith set beside history and mythology, as the subtitle says.

What's inside

There are seven parts and 22 chapters. Part 1 asks what history can support: Roman Judea, Josephus, the Talmud, the four Gospels, early writings left out of the Bible, and the theory that Jesus never existed. Part 2 covers doctrine, with chapters on divinity, the first church in Jerusalem, the Atonement, the Resurrection and the miracles and teachings.

Part 3 compares how Christian traditions see Jesus, including a chapter on the Latter-day Saint view. Part 4 looks at Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism, Islam, the Baha'i Faith and Gnosticism. Part 5 sets Jesus beside heroes and gods from ancient stories and asks why the patterns look alike, and Parts 6 and 7 close with modern debates, Jesus in film and books and the author's case that faith and fact can work together.

The prose is formal for long stretches, with a lot of cited scholars. Carlson's own voice comes through in short first-person asides, and those are the best pages for a newcomer. If you've been following the Alma chapters here, such as the post on Alma 15 and Zeezrom's question, you'll know the Book of Mormon has its own skeptics, and this book spends a good deal of time with people who asked hard questions.

A passage from the book

On page 15, before any of the history begins, Carlson describes where he started:

For most of my life, I was a staunch atheist.

The Jesus Dilemma, page 15

It's a plain sentence that sets the terms for everything after it. The reasoning in the book is that of someone who had to talk himself into taking the subject seriously.

Who it's for and what to expect

It suits a reader who already has a scripture habit and wants background around it, or who has a friend or relative asking whether the historical case holds up. Some of the chapters on other religions and on mythology are short surveys, so expect an overview of each, not a specialist's treatment.

Expect disagreement, too. Where the book describes Latter-day Saint teaching, it's the author's summary and readers will want to check any point of doctrine against the Church's own sources. That's what the note on page 6 invites you to do.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the book cover?

It covers the historical evidence for Jesus, the main Christian doctrines about him, how other Christian groups and other world religions see him, and why stories of dying and rising gods show up in other cultures. It ends with modern debates and the relationship between faith and reason.

Who is it written for?

The author says it's for believers, skeptics and the curious. Latter-day Saint readers will find a chapter on their own tradition, and readers from other backgrounds get chapters on theirs.

How long is it, and how hard a read?

It runs 356 pages in paperback. Some parts are easy going and others are dense with citations, so it reads best in pieces, a chapter at a time.

Details about The Jesus Dilemma, including where to buy it, are on the book's page.

Disclosure: the publisher of this site is connected to the book mentioned above.